Is It Now Easy To Be Frum?

Downstairs from my office, there is a convienance store. Really, it's the most unfortunate thing ever because if you get hungry for a candy bar, you shell out almost $1.00 for it when if you walk down the street it can be had for 60¢ . Yesterday I noticed these Twizzlers wannabe candies. They came in all sorts of fruit flavors. I was so curious as to rather they tasted good or not. So I commenced on "the hunt for the hechshure" (which is a scanning of the package all savvy, grocery-shopping Jews can complete in 2 seconds flat). "Boom!" I found the all important (U) and those babies were all mine!

When I first started keeping kosher I was weary of grocery shopping (ok, I still am - but for other reasons besides kashrus!). Any processed food would need certification. I guess I would be living on apples and carrots for the rest of my days! But to my surprise, many of my "staples" were already certified! Miracle Whip, Country Crock, Triscuits, Honey Bunches of Oats, Philadelphia Cream Cheese (ok, now everyone knows how unhealthy my diet is!). In fact the only items I lost out on were Pop Tarts, Doritos, and many Jamaican products (the island has no Rabbis to certify anything made there; oh well). Needless to say, my menu is still as varied as ever.

But I've found that when others here that you keep kosher they sort of shake their heads in pity at you. Ok, so it's not that bad, but pretty close. For example, sometimes my office will bring goodies for morning meetings. The first time around, my manager asked what "kosher stuff" could she buy. I explained the symbols, and that the package needed to not be opened. She came with those Kedem tea biscuits. She admitted that she was nervous she would get the wrong thing, so she just stuck with the "Jewish food" section of the supermarket. Oh and I was sooo gearing up for some Pepperidgefarm cookies!

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Ok, so buying kosher is not too tough (keeping your home kosher is more difficult in my opinion). Let's check out another myth; businesses. Is it just me, or has something changed drastically in the last 20 years? When I was a little girl, if you went out on Sundays, everything was closed. Now true, I didn't grow up in a big city like Miami - but still. Back then there were no 24 hour Wal-Marts or supermarkets that were still going strong at 10pm. There's a new Bank Atlantic that opened up by my home that is open 7 days a week. It's like the notion of Sunday being a "day of rest" in America's urban centers is a foggy memory. Staying open for business on Sundays has almost become a selling point.

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Ah and what about clothing? It's very true that it is still a bit tough to walk into clothing stores in South Florida and find anything close to tzniut. I have found that going to "Plain Jane" stores like K-Mart, Fashion Bug, and Marshalls you will have better luck finding basics such as white blouses, black skirts and simply-designed shoes. For Shabbos/Yom Tov wear, I will hit up one of the Jewish clothing stores (I can't really afford to buy casuals there!). But when I get tired of hitting the pavement and burning gas and time; I just go online! In a 1/2, I can peruse 50 different merchants to find a maroon long-sleeved, high necked shirt that I need to match the skirt I picked up from the Thrift Store for $8. Sure beats investing in a sewing machine and altering or making your own!

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Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that it is easy to live a Torah-observant life anywhere, anytime. But I just wonder... Of course, the Jews have had to make due wherever they were, whenever the era was (if not then they just assimilated). My feelings could be off base; I've only been trying this on for about a year and a half. But half of the methods I use to handle being shomer mitzvot were not available 10, 15, 20 years ago. I mean, before ATMs came on the scene, how on earth did Yidden ever get their hands on cash!